First EU legislation to monitor and report CO2 emissions

Representatives from the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement on the Regulation for monitoring and reporting CO2 emissions and fuel consumption data from new heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), i.e. lorries, buses and coaches. This is the first ever EU legislation focusing on the CO2 emissions from these vehicles. The new rules are part of the EU’s Strategy on low-emission mobility and Communication on delivering on low-emission mobility laying out actions for a fundamental modernisation of European mobility and transport Accelerating the shift to clean and sustainable mobility is essential to improve the quality of life and health of citizens and contribute to the EU’s climate objectives under the Paris Agreement. The clean mobility transition offers major opportunities for the European economy and reinforces the EU’s global leadership in clean vehicles. Monitoring and reporting CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of new heavy-duty vehicles will also increase transparency enabling transport operators to make well-informed purchasing decisions and save fuel costs. It will also drive innovation amongst European manufacturers.

Welcoming the political agreement, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: “This agreement is proof of Europe’s firm intention to curb the growing CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. I thank the European Parliament and the Council for their work to reach this ambitious outcome. With this new robust, reliable and transparent monitoring and reporting system, we are on track for the next step: CO2 emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles to be proposed in May 2018.”

Main elements

Member States to monitor and report registration data concerning all new HDVs registered in a calendar year, including trailers.

Vehicle manufacturers to monitor and report information related to CO2 emissions and fuel consumption, determined according to the certification procedure for each new vehicle simulated with the Vehicle Energy Consumption Calculation Tool (VECTO) during a calendar year.

The Commission to make reported data publicly available in a register, managed by the European Environment Agency. Sensitive data on grounds of personal data protection and fair competition will not to be published, i.e. the Vehicle Identification Numbers and name of component manufacturers. Some other data will be published in a range format, i.e. the aerodynamic drag value of each vehicle.

The Commission to set up a system of administrative fines in case of vehicle manufacturers not reporting the data or reporting falsified data.

The Commission to set up a system for monitoring and reporting the results of future on-road tests for the verification of the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles.

Next steps

The provisional agreement must now be formally approved by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers bringing together the national governments of the EU Member States. Following approval, the Regulation will be published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later.